Reckless Girls was JUST what I needed! I was in a reading slump, not being drawn into any books for the month of June and was really ready for "the book" to get me back on track. This was it!

Lux and Nico set sail with a couple of strangers to a deserted Island - where they find more strangers...what could go wrong? I enjoyed the writing, the pace of the book and the characters. While I did find the twist slightly predictable, it didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the story.. Thank you Rachel Hawkins for breaking my slump! Reckless Girls is perfect summer read!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

A book of cannibalism, love adventure on the seas and an uninhibited island. Young women decide to go on an adventure of a lifetime. Sailing off into the unknown to play on the sandy beaches of a remote island with questionable history.
Exciting, and titillating read

I have mixed feelings about Reckless Girls. I liked the “And Then There Were None” deserted island, don’t-know-who-to-trust vibes a lot and I enjoyed the dual timelines, but I think the end wrapped up a bit too quickly and neatly. It felt like the first 70% was building up to something big that then turned out to be something you can see coming. I really enjoyed reading it and will definitely keep reading other Rachel Hawkins books but this wasn’t my favorite of hers.

Reckless Girls was incredible! Despite not a lot happening in the story for the first three quarters, I loved reading the descriptions of the island as well as the time jumps that explained the backstories of Lux, Amma, Brittany, and Eliza. The relationships between all four women, as well as Nico and Jake, were so complex, and I really liked the way the flashbacks enhanced that. I loved the setting of a beautiful yet insidious island, and as always, Rachel Hawkins’ writing style is beautiful. I’ve been a fan of Hawkins’ work since the Hex Hall series, but Reckless Girls may be her best work yet!

I was a big fan of The Wife Upstairs but this story didn’t grab me in the same way. The narrator, Lux, is the kind of woman found in horror movies who runs in to a deserted house alone only to meet an axe murderer – the sort you want to slap and tell not to be so stupid. She ends up on a supposedly deserted island in the Pacific with a disparate group of young people and what happens is fairly predictable. I bought into it fairly well until the last part of the book when it flat out went into fantasy land and became scarily laughable. Overall rather disappointing.

Another good twisty book by Rachel Hawkins. I am not a fan of jumping time periods but despite that, I enjoyed this book. The setting of being on the boat and deserted island was very interesting. I can't say I loved how it wrapped up but a good read!

Thanks NetGally for the ARC

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. When Lux and her boyfriend Nico are asked to take two women to a remote island, they think its easy money. What starts out as an excursion is anything but. This was a quick read.

This is a great, fun read. Nico and Lux live in Hawaii, working to save enough money to repair his boat and sail all over the world. When a couple of college girls offer him a huge amount of money to sail them to deserted Meroe Island for an adventure, he finds it hard to turn them down, so he and Lux agree to finish the repairs and head off to the shores of Meroe, which has a pretty sinister back story of its own. Upon arrival, they discover other people already moored on the island seeking adventure. While at first, they all seem to get along, soon tensions begin to simmer and this sends the story spiraling to its totally unexpected end. I stayed up late to finish this one!

Well, I pretty much devoured this book in a couple settings. When I wasn’t reading, I was wondering where the storyline would go next. I particularly liked Lux. There were some clever twists and turns and it definitely had the gothic creepy factor from the moment they arrived at the island. In the end, I took one star away for the ending. It felt off to me, and without giving away any spoilers, I think one person deserved a better way to be remembered when you reflect on the book. Hawkin’s fans are really going to enjoy this. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I could not put this book down! From the beginning, "Reckless Girls" checked all of the boxes for a great suspense novel.

From the moment they arrive on the island, you knew that something bad was looming in the distance. 6 strangers together on a deserted island for 2 week, and what seemed like only fun and games soon turned into something far more sinister.

This is one to read, so make sure your schedule is free because you won't want to stop reading!

This book is 5 star! I enjoyed Hawkins first novel, but literally couldn’t put this book down! Reckless Girls is a wild ride, in a beautiful setting with standout characters! Just when I thought I had things figured out, I was wrong! Often times a book drags in the last 20 percent, but not this book! Twists and turns until the last page! I can not wait for Hawkins next book! Her writing is descriptive, her characters intriguing and the plot fresh and new! Thank you so much for an advanced readers copy!!!

Wow! Amazing beach read, I could not put it down. It really kicked off my vacation! Five stars, make sure you put this on your read list!

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lux and her boyfriend Nico are living in Hawaii, staying on a blow up mattress in a friend's house. Lux has just been fired from her job as a hotel maid and Nico comes from a rich family but refuses to ask them for money. Nico has a sailboat that Lux wants to go on a trip with him, so when two girls vacationing in Hawaii ask Nico to take them to Meroe Island in the South Pacific, which has a bit of a troubling history. Once there, they run into another couple and have a great time for awhile until everything starts going wrong.

I received a widget from the publisher and eagerly accepted because the setting sounded so appealing. I have no interest in deserted islands because they don't have bars and what fun is that? But I did love my first of hopefully many trips to the South Pacific, so I dove right into this one. It was a quick read and not a bad book. I didn't find the ending to be super compelling, but it was fun while it lasted and a great setting gets an extra star, so it is a 4 star from me.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed the author's first book The Wife Upstairs and this one did not disappoint either. There were a lot of great characters that were explored both in present day and in the past. I really liked the concept of being on an island in the middle of nowhere when things start going wrong, a paradise turned nightmare. I will definitely read more by this author in the future!

Lux is a young woman who struggled to find her place in the world after the death of her mother. After following her boyfriend, Nico, to Maui on the promise of around the world travels on his boat, she finds herself stuck in a dead-end job cleaning hotel rooms. When Nico is offered $50,000 to take two young women to a remote, uninhabited island with a questionable history, Lux tags along for the adventure. It seems life is finally looking up.

The unexpected couple they find upon their arrival at the island seem like a great time, at first. However, the longer everyone stays on the island, the stranger things become. An unexpected, sketchy visitor ratchets things up a notch and soon, everyone is revealing their true colors. Will Lux make it off the island with her sanity and her life? Or, will the island's mystery and danger trap all of them for good?

This book was a page turner from beginning to end. Very captivating with amazing character development. Two girls show up to Hawaii and ask a island couple to take them to a remote island. However the island has some other unexpected guests and some unexpected events start to happen. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

“What am I when you strip everything else away? I’m a motherf*cking survivor.”

Rachel Hawkins is quickly becoming an author I can’t get enough of. Her slow burning suspense novels give us a subtle taste of classic stories we’ve read before, but with her own modern, morally gray, and delightful spin. The Wife Upstairs was a page turning reinvention of a classic, and Reckless Girls showed up to Meroe Island and served angsty isolated suspense deliciousness on a silver platter.

I honestly could not get enough of this story. It had such a great and angsty build, but then the anxiousness and stress sets in because the suspense is right there and you just know it’s all about to hit. I think Rachel Hawkins did a fantastic job with this book. Making it hard not to root for certain characters and spinning certain situations from multiple perspectives. Just such a fantastic and well written suspense read.

“It’s the island, I tell myself. Nothing is real here. Nothing matters.”

Get six strangers on an isolated island, that’s rumored to be cursed, and chaos is bound to ensue. What starts off as a great time in paradise ends up being, well, deadly. Lux McAllister is our main POV character and from her account she just wants to travel. Life has dealt her a horrible hand for the last few years of her life, and now that’s she’s found someone to love, Nico, she wants adventure. He promises her one of course, but instead of that she gets stuck in Maui working at a less than thrilling job and supporting said boyfriend. Until two college girls show up and want to be taken on a tour of the legendeadly… I mean legendary Meroe Island. They hire Nico to take them, and Nico insists that Lux go along for the ride. I mean, she DOES want adventure, so why not? Problem is when they show up they aren’t the only ones on the island. Want more? You’ll have to read it yourself in January!

Rachel Hawkins does not disappoint! After reading her awesome thriller The Wife Upstairs, I couldn't wait to read this one. Finding paradise on an isolated tropical island sounds like bliss until things turn ugly and there is nowhere to turn for help. A beautiful isolated island is where two women ( Brittany and Amma) hope to have an adventure and hire Nico and Lux's boat to take them there. They arrive and find that someone's boat is already anchored near the island. They meet the people on the boat, Eliza and Jake, and soon hit it off and enjoy their time in paradise until terrifying things start happening. What is going on and who is doing these things? Can anyone there be trusted and are they hiding terrible secrets? The twisted ending was a jaw dropping surprise. I read the book in one sitting and enjoyed every minute of it!

Rachel Hawkins has a devious mind in Reckless Girls.
It did not immediately grab my interest, but kept reading.
This is definitely a what not to do when you’ve been drinking and meet a guy!
It was ridiculous at time, terrible at time and toward the end, terrifying.
#NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this title.

Lux and her boyfriend Nico don't exactly have it made in the shade in Hawaii. She works as maid in a ritzy resort and Nico works at the marina on boats. Their dream is to travel, and they even have a boat, but so far, they've barely made ends meet. When two girls decide to hire Nico to sail them to Meroe Island in the Pacific, Lux hopes this will be the start of their dream. Upon arriving on the island, they meet up with a mysterious couple already exploring the abandoned island. then things get crazy.

I love nothing more than a book that just pulls me in and doesn't want to let go. This book did that. There's levity, and mystery, and darkness and intrigue. It's everything you want in a novel. I liked the interplay between characters and the build of suspense. The different threads of the storyline we well-executed and knitted together in a way that made sense to the narrative. I've read several of Rachel Hawkins' books, and they're always an adventure.